Dow industrials turn higher after 5 straight losses

U.S. stocks edged higher in midday trading Friday following Donald Trump's swearing in as the 45th president of the United States.

An overall improvement in quarterly results so far this corporate earnings season as well as optimism over the Trump inauguration helped lift stocks, said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.

Stocks have slowed in 2017 after surging for several weeks following Election Day on investor optimism that a Trump administration and Republican congress would usher in business-friendly policies.

[...] the possibility of increased tariffs or trade restrictions could also mean drops in profits for big U.S. companies.

Since 1953, starting with President Dwight D. Eisenhower's inauguration, the S&P 500 has risen an average of 1.6 percent in the first 100 days of a president's first term in office, Stovall noted.

Citizens Financial Group gained 2.5 percent after reporting fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations.

General Electric slid 1.8 percent after the conglomerate reported fourth-quarter revenue that fell short of analysts' forecasts.

Bristol-Myers Squibb slumped 10.2 percent after the drugmaker said it won't pursue accelerated regulatory approval for a lung cancer treatment.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.7 percent after the Chinese government said the economy grew at a 6.8 percent annual rate in the last quarter, even as full-year growth increased 6.7 percent, the weakest in three decades.